I have to reply to the good-natured good news story below at the risk of
sounding curmudgeon-like. I live in downtown Toronto and our neighbourhood
has a graffiti problem. The local kids who were doing the defacing were
asked to collaborate on a mural in one of the small parks where I walk my
dog. We all looked forward to some reflection of our community, our times,
whatever - something we could all relate to anyhow. What we got is truly
horrible - a tawdry representation of a big-busted super-model/fairy
queen/bimbo character kneeling submissively by a stream. Nearby a gnome
fishes out of the same stream. Beside that is a horrible assemblage of
worm-like creatures hanging from a tree that looks like it was done using a
stencil. Far from the noble political/social ideals that graffiti once bore
(and apparently still represents in South Africa).
In short, with graffiti what counts is its motivation - and in my 'hood,
what it came down to is ownership of public spaces by frustrated boy-men
(gangs). My solution is to give these kids paint and canvases so they can
express themselves all they want - but not be allowed to "share" it with all
the rest of us. All graffiti is not good graffiti - and I see very little of
it that is interesting, thought-provoking, or challenging - all elements of
good public art (which is part of what the graffiti artists are aiming for,
at least according to some of the celebrity graffiti artists in NY and LA).
And I for one am sick of all the advertising mascarading as art that is
everywhere nowadays - is there a street I can walk down that is free from
posters, "murads" and the like? Even University of Toronto has put up
advertising in its locker rooms and washrooms (directly over the urinals I'm
told) and is now considering installing TV monitors in public spaces around
campus that would blare commercials all day.
Another whole topic is what graffiti does to fine examples of architecture,
historical buildings, etc.

ilona biro
writer in toronto

P.S. There's an art student in Toronto who has been throwing up on paintings
(a Mondrian and a Dufy so far) in public galleries (MOMA and the Art Gallery
of Ontario) as a protest against "banality" - which he says these paintings
represent and which cause him to become physically ill. Now if only he could
retch on some of the graffiti around town...



>Here in Toronto we had a problem with grafitti artists last summer so the
>city decided to do something about it.  The area where they were spraying
>was an alley behind a school that had a number of garages.  The city
>decided to hold a competition and with the permission of the garage owner
>challenged the grafitti kids to paint "art" on each of them.  This alley
>has become a really neat place to drive down with large frogs, foxes,
>cardinals, and beavers now painted on the side of them.  Not sure if they
>ahd to stick to an "animals" them but it would appear so.
>
>Ever since these paintings were done, no one has dared to deface them
>with more traditional grafitti since and it has given those who painted
>them a sense of pride and accomplishment.
>
>Carla Morse
>Curator
>HMCS HAIDA Naval Museum
>Toronto, ON CANADA
>
>


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Ilona Biro & Jeff Silverstein
67 Brunswick Ave
Toronto
M5S-2L8
(416)962-6005
"Art is a lie that tells the truth." Pablo Picasso

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